Business leader responds to Tory's stance on UK economy.
Conservative Party leader David Cameron’s comments about how to steer the UK economy through the choppy waters that lie ahead have not gone down too well with the Confederation of British Industry. In a press conference this week, Cameron set out his party’s vision of how the financial crisis should be managed – he criticised Gordon Brown’s strategy of going on a “borrowing binge” and said that, as a result, the UK would face a “tax bombshell” in the years to come.
Cameron also argued that the best approach would be to keep a tight rein on public spending. He said economic policy should focus on “not spending money we haven’t got, but saving it to help people through tax relief – not borrowing money on the nation’s credit card, but getting a grip on public spending.” He added that it was important to “make sure Britain starts living within its means”.
Cameron said a Conservative government would restrain the growth of public spending by not matching Labour’s “unsustainably high” spending plans for 2010-11 and beyond. He also pledged to establish an independent Office for Budget Responsibility that would “bring stability to the public finances”.
However, the business community has taken issue with the Tory leader’s comments. In what will come as a blow to Cameron, the Confederation of British Industry – which recently echoed BIBA’s call for banks to increase lending to small businesses – argued that there was an urgent need for an increase in public spending. Commenting on Cameron’s speech, Richard Lambert, director general of the CBI, said “in the current exceptional circumstances the CBI believes there is a case for a well targeted, controlled and time limited fiscal stimulus in the immediate future.”
The fact that the CBI has made public its disagreement with David Cameron’s views on the economy shows that the Conservative leader is out of touch with the business community and the problems it faces. Though he may be currently ahead in the polls, Cameron still has a lot of work to do before he manages to convince the public that his party has the ability to successfully manage the economy.
